A New Dawn
by Tigerclaw
Summary: A tale of a new clan arriving from Avalon-rating for sensuality


Legal Crap: Nothing but characters are mine-blah blah and props to Disney for making Dreams Come True  
  
11:30 pm.. The Redlight District.  
  
If there were worse places to be, Achilles couldn't think of them. Alone in this human world as he was, he had little company and much solitude. The better for reflection and thought. But things were going to get better, some of his rookery brothers would be arriving from Avalon this night. A bit of a smile touched his face as he made his way up the stairs to the roof. His "castle" as it was, was an old warehouse, long forgotten by its owners. Leaving it to his own decorative tastes. The only room the gargoyle actually used was an upstairs office which he'd managed to get a couch and a TV with actual cable for. A refrigerator as well.  
  
Achilles was well over 7 ft tall with gray skin the color of slate. He had short, slightly curved horns growing straight sideways from his temple and a long beak took the place of a nose and mouth. Leather armor breastplate and a black loincloth covered his huge frame. He moved on his taloned feet with the grace of a warrior as he mounted the final steps to the roof and burst through the door and out into the night air. A magnificent skyline blotted out most of the night sky's twinkling jewels and the lingering smell of industrial excess choked the night air and tainted the soft breeze.  
  
Achilles ran to the edge of the roof and leapt off, unfurling his wings to their full length and catching a thermal that sent him soaring up, up, up above the rooftops. The gargoyle turned and headed for the harbor, guided by the sound of the distant foghorns and the beacon of the lighthouse. As he passed out of the Industrial sector of the city and into the commercial, the air became easier to breathe and it was actually a pleasant thing to idly watch his silhouette pass over the humans below. Time was no factor as finally the beachfront came into view, the docks being the most prominent structure in sight.  
  
Achilles glided in for a landing on the longest pier just as a mysterious mist settled over the water in front of that particular pier. Materializing at once in the great fog was a gondola piloted by a lean, light-blue skinned gargoyle with long white hair to in between his shoulder blades. A black loincloth and gray tunic covering him with a scimitar sheathed at his belt.  
  
Ajax…Achilles instantly recognized his rookery brother. Behind him a hugely muscular form towered. This gargoyle had skin the deep blue of the ocean at night. He was bald but had thick curling horns like those of a ram. He wore a brown loincloth and a strap holding a large doubleheaded battleax slung across his broad chest. Ah…Thor, forever the warrior.  
  
Last but most certainly not least was the smallest of the three, a slender, shapely female gargoyle. The very sight of her was enough to shut off the higher functions of Achilles's brain. Her skin was a deep red, and she had long blond hair that spilled to her shoulders and she wore a simple white dress, short in length that molded to her curves and with a deep V neck that split the top into little more than two thick strips showing off her flat stomach and the swells of full breasts. Achilles gulped. This was Kira…the most lovely of their clan from Avalon. She had matured since last he'd seen her.  
  
Ajax was the first to catch sight of their greeter and he waved energetically with a broad fang flashing grin on his face. At this, his two companions joined in, shouting greetings. The boat bumped against the dock and Thor picked up Kira by her delicate waist and set her upon the dock then leapt up at the same time as Ajax. Ajax embraced Achilles tightly and he gladly returned the warmth. Next Thor grabbed him up in a bonecrushing hug and last, Kira pressed her pliant body against his in an affectionate greeting, her arms around his neck.  
  
"You can let go now." She said softly and Achilles realized he'd been holding on for a moment too long.  
  
"Oh. Right." He said, stepping back.  
  
"Wow." Thor said, looking up at the skyline of the city, his eyes wide. Ajax had a similar expression, as did Kira.  
  
"It's so…" Ajax started.  
  
"Bright." Kira finished. There was a slight bubbling to their left as the boat sank beneath the surface of the water.  
  
"Would you like to see my home?" Achilles asked with hopefulness evident in his tone.  
  
"Yeah!" Thor exclaimed.  
  
"Sure!" The responses from his clanmates were eager and filled his heart with a joy he'd forgotten, the simple joy of companionship. Two years was a long time to be alone. But he'd learned much. The four gargoyles scaled the nearest wall with ease, talons biting into the brick as they climbed hand over hand and foot over foot, making their own holds each time. Until finally they were on the roof. Achilles was the first to leap off, followed by Thor, Kira, and finally Ajax. Five minutes and a few thermals later, they were soaring over the central part of town, Achilles giving them all the information he knew on this part of town, pointing out this interesting landmark or that. Suddenly they all heard something.  
  
"Please, I have nothing…" A man's voice pleaded.  
  
"He's telling the truth." A woman's voice added.  
  
"Don't matter, no one passes through our turf without paying the toll." There was the sound of something solid smacking flesh and the woman cried out.  
  
"Leave him alone!" The woman again. Achilles veered toward the sound and landed on a rooftop overlooking an alleyway. The others followed suit. Down below, six young men in leather jackets and lots of piercings and tattooes surrounded two apparently well off young teenagers who had taken the wrong way home. The woman was kneeling next to the man, who was on his knees holding his stomach. The lead thug was tapping a bat into his hand lightly while his friends looked on. His "friends" were all armed, ranging from broken bottles, to knives, to chains.  
  
Kira's eyes were glowing a bright red as she watched.  
  
"We've got to do something!" She exclaimed.  
  
"I agree." This from Ajax.  
  
"Let's do what gargoyles do best…" Achilles trailed off.  
  
"Protect." Thor said with a grin across his face. With a roar that rent the night, Thor was the first one off. Everyone looked up to see him descending with his wings billowing above him to slow his fall. Bat-boy got a closeup view of one huge taloned foot as Thor landed his 800 lb body feetfirst on the boy's face. There was a wet snap as the tough crumpled. Thor lunged forward, lashing out with one huge fist into a second before they even realized what was happening. The force of his punch lifted the kid off his feet and carried him across the alley until he bounced off the dead end wall. The others were down before any in the game could react. Kira was more mercifully, merely landing in front of her opponent and spinning, whacking him in the head with her muscular tail. The results were the same, though less spectacular. He still went down, KO'ed. Achilles landed a flying jumpkick to another's chest, pulling the hit to not maim the kid with his fantastic strength. He still flew into the wall next to his companion and slumped. Ajax swooped down and grabbed the fifth by the shoulders and pulled up. He carried the kid over to the dumpster and spiked him inside like a football. He landed proudly on the dumpster and kicked the lid shut, hitting the one inside in the head as he tried to stand up. All four gargoyles advanced on the last left standing, eyes glowing. He backed away in fear, small whimpers escaping his mouth as it opened and closed like a fish starved for air.  
  
"Let it be known now, we protect this city now. Now flee before our might!" Ajax said, stomping once in the terrified thug's general direction. That was all it took. The man turned tail and ran as if ol' Lucifer his own self was right on his heels. The small group of gargoyles collapsed into a fit of laughter as they turned back to the ones who had previously been victims.  
  
"Are you all-?" Thor began to ask.  
  
"Stay away monster!" The woman screamed hysterically. She threw a rock that bounced off of Thor's forehead.  
  
"Hey!" He exclaimed. The man and woman charged, plowing through the line of gargoyles and ran off screaming. The others turned with bewildered expressions to Achilles. He sighed.  
  
"Much has changed since the days of our ancestors. Once we were revered protectors, now we're terrifying monsters." Achilles said with a trace of bitterness in his voice.  
  
The rest of the evening was uneventful, a bit downcast perhaps as Achilles led them on a tour of the rest of the city that had become his, and now their, protectorate, and finally back to his "castle" as morning approached. Nonetheless, there was joy in his heart as Achilles took his perch on the rooftop next to his new clanmates and faced the first rays of a new dawn. 


End file.
